KUALA LUMPUR: France was ranked as Malaysia's third largest trading partner within the Europe Union (EU), with total trade amounting to RM16.72 billion, accounting for about eight per cent share of total trade with the EU.
Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong said French investments into Malaysia are very diverse, ranging from electrical and electronics (E&E), infrastructure, manufacturing, retail, services sectors, aeronautics, and defence.
He said that around half of the 600 French companies operating in Malaysia were established by French entrepreneurs who launched their businesses locally.
Liew said that the world can no longer rely on the United States (US) as the primary importer and must look to expand markets beyond the American consumer base.
To achieve this, he highlighted the need to foster new consumer bases by ensuring they are prosperous and secure enough to drive demand.
"We all have a mission to make Malaysians and the people of Asean richer. Asean has a population of 670 million. Assuming that in 15 years with 800 million people, half of them, or 400 million people, living a middle class life and consuming as such, the future Asean middle class would be the size of the current China's middle class," he said in his speech at the recent CCIFM Malaysia-France Gala Night.
Liew added that while the world currently relies on the US, Europe, and China to consume the goods and services produced globally, Malaysia should be brave enough to envisage a world with a few more consumer markets, namely Asean, South America, and the Middle East and Africa.
"To create these markets, the French companies in Malaysia or Asean will have to pay better salaries to Malaysian workers and the workers in the Asean region to enable them to become middle class. In exchange, the French companies benefit by creating a market for their products outside the US, Europe, and China," Liew said.
On the proposed global minimum tax (GMT), Liew hopes French companies will be at the forefront in welcoming the tax, whereby if a French company is not paying income taxes in Malaysia, the home country, in this case France, will have to collect 15 per cent taxes from the said company.
He said the objective of GMT is to ensure that countries do not compete to race to the bottom in terms of offering tax holidays to multinationals.
"If we are serious about creating middle class markets outside the US, Europe, and China, Malaysia and Asean governments will need to collect enough taxes from multinational companies so that their people will remain healthy for work and feel emotionally and physically secured, therefore comfortable to spend as consumers," he added.